Design

Setting

5 clinical services in the UK (Newcastle, Cleveland, Durham, and 2 in west London).

Patients

90 patients who were 16–60 years of age (mean age 39 y, 59% men, 89% white), met ICD-10 research and DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, and had symptoms causing distress or dysfunction for ≥6 months despite adequate doses of antipsychotic
drugs. Follow up was 100% for all outcomes except for scores on the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), which
had 98% follow up.

Intervention

Patients were allocated to CBT (n=46) or befriending (n=44). Both interventions were done by the same experienced nurses.
CBT involved attaining a collaborative understanding of the development of symptoms and working towards reducing …